GENERAL ARTICLES

Can the Ayurvedic pippali ( longum L.) be a good option for livelihood and socio-economic development for Indian farmers?

Padma Raj Gajurel*, Soyala Kashung, Sisibaying Nopi, Robert Panmei and Binay Singh

The pippali of Ayurveda botanically known as Piper longum L. is one of the economically valued , the fruits and roots of which are used widely in the preparation of traditional herbal medi- cines as well as in various modern drugs. The Ayurvedic medicine system has been heavily depen- dent on its use since time immemorial. Dried or powdered forms of the fruits and roots are sold at Rs 350 to 3000 per kg, at the national and international markets. Supply of the raw materials is still dependent on the wild source as the existing cultivation and management practices are not ade- quate to fulfill the demand. If utilized, it may become one of the most important components of agroforestry systems in the tropical and subtropical warm humid climate of the country that may generate up to approximately Rs 130,000 as an additional income to the farmers.

Keywords: Agroforestry, cultivation techniques, livelihood, market demand, pippali.

WITH the fast-paced development worldwide, there is an wide range of medicinal values and high potentiality of increase in the outbreak of many diseases. As humans industrial application, the species has not been managed continue to depend on synthetic drugs, there has been a properly. The climatic conditions of the Northeast and realization and renewed interest in plant-based medicines. Southern plateau of provide the best habitats for the With the recent spurt in demand for medicinal plants luxuriant growth of the species. Hence its extensive worldwide, more farmers are entering into this potential domestication in various agroforestry systems could be- sector. India, with its diverse biogeographic area has a come one of the best options for livelihood enhancement. vast potential for the export of medicinal plants. The In view of its promotion for cultivation and management forests of the country are abound with important medi- in the country, the commercial capability, present trading cinal plants which are used widely by the traditional status and agro-techniques are discussed here. healers. About 22% of the herbal raw drugs in the country are produced through cultivation1. India with its centu- Pippali plant and its distribution ries’ old Ayurvedic–Unani history is home to about 7000 species of medicinal plants, of which only about 1178 Piper longum L. is a perennial low creeping root climber. species are used in trade1. Piper longum, commonly It is a dioecious species with separate male and female called as pipli, pippali, or belonging to the individuals. The branches are dimorphic in nature where family is one such important medicinal plant. vegetative branches are creeping and rooting at nodes, The dried female spikes (pippali) and roots (pippalimula) and the fertile branches are erect with swollen nodes and are the commercial parts of the plant which have been without adventitious roots. The flowers are unisexual and used in various formulations for treating different ail- borne on erect spikes. Fruiting spikes elongate up to ments like common cold, fever, indigestion, asthma, 5 cm. Drupes are densely aggregated, globose, black on bronchitis, leprosy, cancer, etc. The species is known to maturing and characterized by aromatic smell and pun- contain more than 50 alkaloids and various other essential gent taste (Figure 1). oils2,3. Additionally, the species is used in household The species is naturally distributed in the wild in the cooking as a spice and for seasoning foods. Despite its tropical and subtropical regions of the world such as , Bhutan, India, , Myanmar, Nepal 4 The authors are with the Department of Forestry, North Eastern and . In India, the natural distribution is Regional Institute of Science and Technology, Nirjuli 791 109, India. restricted to the hotter regions from Central Himalayas, to *For correspondence. (e-mail: [email protected]) Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, lower

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Table 1. Traditional medicinal uses of Piper longum in different Asian countries

Country Parts used Uses Selected references

India Fruits Colds, asthma, arthritis, rheumatism, lumbago, 8, 21–23 (Indian Systems of Medicine) sciatica, epilepsy, indigestion, flatulence, improves decongestion, antibiotic and analgesic effects, toothache, gynaecological diseases chronic bronchitis, intestinal distress Roots Diuretic, stimulant, sudorific, antidote against 24 snakebite and scorpion stings Leaves, young shoots Body/joint ache 25 Nepal Fruits Rheumatic pain, cough, indigestion, bronchitis, fever 26, 27 Thailand Dried unripe fruits Carminative, tonic, diarrhoea, expectorant, oxytocic 28, 29 for postlabor, alleviate pain, fever and piles China Fruits Stomach chills, vomiting, acid regurgitation, 24 headache and rhinitis

raka Samhita, Susruta Samhita, Vagbhata’s Astangya Hrdayam, etc.6,7. The entire plant parts including the stem, roots, leaves, and fruits are reported to be used in the treatment of numerous ailments Table 1. P. longum forms a significant part of the Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani system of medicines and is used for treating various ailments. It is one of the most preferred in the Indian Ayurvedic System, where the fruits and roots are used in more than 100 crude drug formulations which include cold (kaas), asthma, bronchitis, colic (shool), catarrhal fever (jwar), liver and spleen ailments (pleeha), piles (arsha), urinary tract diseases (prameh), leprosy (kushta), rheumatism (amavata), gastritis, dyspepsia, menstrual problems, haemorrhage during child birth, ano- rexia, gouts, paralysis, epilepsy, antidote against snake and scorpion bites8.

Phytochemical properties and pharmaceutical

Figure 1. a, Female flowering spike; b, Male flowering spike; c, values Fruiting spike; d and e, Fresh and dried fruits. The plant contains a large number of alkaloids and other

related compounds like volatile oil, starch, gums, resins, hills of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, parts of Western fatty oils and inorganic matter3,9. More than 50 various Ghats and Andaman & Nicobar Islands4,5. alkaloids are already reported from this plant. The most The species is reported to be cultivated at low eleva- abundant alkaloids present is piperine, followed by tions in some areas of Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, methyl piperine, pipernonaline, piperettine, asarinine, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, pellitorine, etc.3,10. Important lignans and esters contents Karnataka and Tamil Nadu4,5. The species typically of the plant include sesamin, pulvuatilon, tridecyl- thrives well in areas with high rainfall and humidity and dihydro-pcoumaarate, etc.11,12. The essential oil present in prefers well-drained sandy soil of pH range 5.5 to 8.5 the fruits constitutes three major components, i.e. caryo- with rich humus in shady areas. phyllene (17%), pentadecane (15.8%) and bisaboline (11.2%)2. Major organic acids present comprise palmitic Traditional uses acid and tetrahydropiperic acid13. Because of the occurrence of important bioactive prin- Apart from being used as a spice for flavouring foods, ciple and secondary metabolites, P. longum has gained Piper longum is also used extensively throughout the worldwide attention for its various therapeutic uses. world in various traditional medical practices. The impor- Some of its major pharmaceutical activities reported are tance of P. longum in the Indian traditional medicinal anti-tumor activity, anti-diabetic activity, cardioprotec- system has been described in ancient texts such as Cha- tive, hepatoprotective activity, antioxidant activity,

1568 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 120, NO. 10, 25 MAY 2021 GENERAL ARTICLES immunomodulatory activity, anti-fertility activity, anti- various other species of Piper. The most commonly used venom activity, etc. adulterant is the P. sylvaticum Roxb. and P. peepuloides Roxb., both of which are also grown in the habitats of P. longum. Market demand and supply of pippali in India

Due to its diversified ethnomedicinal, ayurvedic and Potential of commercial cultivation and pharmaceutical applications, the market demand for pip- management of P. longum pali is rapidly rising both in national and international markets. The supply of traded pippali in India is mostly The above discussion clearly revealed that P. longum has from the wild, collected from forests of Assam, West a high market demand. However, at present, the species is Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. Additionally, a small cultivated and managed only in some selected regions in proportion of the material is also contributed from small the country. Despite the suitable climatic requirements scale cultivated areas of Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, and availability of land, particularly in the northeastern Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu5,10. Our region, P. longum is not found under large scale cultiva- own field and market survey also revealed that collec- tion. An integrated effort from communities and govern- tions and marketing of the fruits are mostly made from ment departments may boost its commercial cultivation in the wild collection from Arunachal Pradesh (foothills of different parts of the country. Govt agencies like National Western parts of the state), Assam (bordering to Bhutan), Medicinal Plant Board offer support for large scale culti- Meghalaya, Bhutan and Bangladesh. All these collections vation of various Piper species to Indian farmers. As the from the wild are traded to the South Indian markets. companies like Sathvabioactives Pvt Ltd, BIOPREX/ Some companies that are engaged in trading of the spe- LABS, Nutramine Life Sciences, M/S World Wide cies in India include Sathvabioactives Pvt Ltd, Enjay Enterprise, Mazzy Exports, etc. directly buy the raw har- Marketing Services Pvt Ltd, BIOPREX/LABS, Mother vested products from the farmers, the cultivation may be Herbs Pvt Ltd, Nutramine Life Sciences, Alchemy Chem- promoted through buyback policies with these firms. icals, M/S World Wide Enterprise, Genia Nature Herbs Adoption of proper cultivation techniques selecting suita- Pvt Ltd, Mazzy Exports, etc. ble habitats certainly leads to sufficient production of The domestic price of long pepper fruits varies from these raw materials that may fulfill the growing demands. place to place and also suppliers. The products of the The northeastern region of the country has a large volume species mostly the fruits are sold at the rate of Rs 800– of degraded forest lands where the species can be 1500 per kg in Indian markets. The fresh, dried or managed by the forest department involving the local powdered form of fruits and roots are exported to other communities to improve the productivity of the forest countries with prices varying from Rs 350 to 3000 or land. more per kg (ref. 5). Some of the processed pippali prod- Excessive collection of pippali from the wild has also ucts found in the Indian market include Chuturushana, resulted in the population reduction in the wild. There is Sragyada Churna, Ashta Churnam, Pulmoflex, Tabut an increasing demand in both the international and Azaraqi, Tablet Munish, Majoon Lana, Majoon Falasefa, domestic markets promoting its systematic cultivation. Jawarish Kamooni, Jawarish Bishasa, etc. Cultivation of P. longum as an understorey crop International demand and supply in forest and agroforestry systems

Currently, Vietnam is the largest exporter of P. longum in Presently, Non Timber Forest Produces (NTFPs) have the world with a 22.7% share in export followed by Bra- gained importance in the management of forest, and par- zil with 7.3% and Indonesia with 5.6%. India ranks 4th ticularly, medicinal plants with high commercial demands among the countries exporting P. longum with a 1.9% 14 are being preferred. As per the Indian Forest Policy share . USA, Austria, Australia, Africa, Canada, Russia, (1988), NTFPs which provide sustenance to the tribal Philippines, , etc., are some of the countries population and other communities residing in and around where P. longum is being exported regularly. With proper forests should be managed to enhance their production cultivation technology and export mechanism, our coun- with due regard to employment and income generation. P. try can aim to rise as a major global market for long longum as a highly valuable medicinal plant falls under pepper and other herbal products based industry. such category. It is a shade-loving species with its creep- ing habit, easy to grow and manage, and having high Adulterants market demand, could be one of the best choices for the forest department to introduce in the forest management Although P. longum is the major source of pippali, it has schemes including Joint Forest Management (JFM). A been found that the dried marketed fruits are a mixture of vast volume of forest land in the region specifically as

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 120, NO. 10, 25 MAY 2021 1569 GENERAL ARTICLES per the habitat preference (up to 1000 mean sea level) of were made from the stem, i.e. cutting with one node, two the species, is available in the northeastern states without nodes, and three nodes. The cuttings were raised in the any countable productivity. They are either being simply nursery using poly bags with sand, soil and cow dung at a left barren or covered with unwanted invasive species ratio of 2 : 1 : 1. The planted cuttings were watered and like Lantana camara, Mikania micrantha, Cuscuta ref- monitored regularly. The emergence of new buds began lexa, Pueraria spp., etc. On the other hand, these lands after one month in all the three types of cuttings and grew are capable of growing of various understorey crops with successfully. The observation after 2 months revealed minimum soil and nutrient management. The total forest that the stem cuttings showed a good survival percentage cover in the northeastern states of India is about 65.05% with at least 70% in all the three types of cuttings indicat- of the total geographical area. The rest of the land cover ing regeneration potentiality through the stem as in other comes under crops, non-agricultural use or uncultivated Piper species. Though all the three cutting types showed lands15. The majority of the tribal communities of the re- good results, it would be recommendable to use the three- gion are mostly engaged in farming activities. However, node cutting for commercial cultivation as this will pro- due to the undulating topography and inaccessible terrain, mote the production of higher number of shoots capable there is less area under settled agricultural systems. To of producing good number of fruiting spikes. However, overcome these problems, people of the region have during selection, one must select the female plant. Pro- evolved their own traditional approaches to agricultural duction of fruits without male counterpart is already re- systems to facilitate and sustain themselves. With their ported in Piper and had also been observed in P. longum diverse nature, the agroforestry practices have the poten- by us. However, for ascertaining healthy fruits, at least tial to improve the livelihood of farmers by providing 5% of male plants should be raised. both economic production and ecological protection. The well established seedlings are transplanted in the Home gardens, jhum cultivation, cardamom and alder field at 1 × 1 m under mono-cropping or 2 × 2 m distance based farming system16, Zabo system of Kohima17, Bun in mixed cropping. Manuring of the plantation area with system in Meghalaya and Apatani wetland rice cultiva- Farm Yard Manure (FYM) or any other organic manure tion integrated with fish culture18, are some of the can be done during the first year of the plantation before examples of indigenous agroforestry systems widely the onset of monsoon. Irrigation is usually done 2–3 practiced in the region. This shows that through some times a week depending on soil quality and weather con- adjustments in the land-use strategies and cropping ditions. Growth of weeds must be avoided in the planta- pattern, the farmers can adapt through changes in socio- tion. Raising of cuttings should be initiated between economic and environmental conditions. March and April which can then be transplanted in the As P. longum is found growing in the wild in northeas- field during May–July. tern states, it can be cultivated on a small to large scale in the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya. It can be cultivated either as a monocul- ture crop or mixed crop with multipurpose trees such as Artocarpus heterophyllus, Albizia procera, Cinnamomum spp., Glyricidia sepium, Moringa oleifera, etc. Eventually, income from the multipurpose trees will provide extra profit to the farmers. If practiced with suitable cultivation practices, it can also be introduced in the secondary forests, degraded forests, etc. This plant has already been raised successfully as an intercrop with coffee and coco- nut plantation in some parts of Western Ghats19.

Cultivation technology

Seeds of pippali have very low germination capacity, and therefore the species is mainly cultivated through vegeta- tive propagation. Usually stem cuttings with 3–5 nodes, or root tillers are used as propagation material (Figure 2). Propagation of the cuttings is usually carried out during Figure 2. a, Cuttings with 1, 2 and 3 nodes; b, Cuttings in polybags; March–April and plantation before the onset of monsoon. c, Two months old cuttings; d, Three months old and ready for planta- Experimentation on propagation through stem cuttings tion cuttings; e, Transplantation of cuttings in North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST) campus; f, Transplanted of the plant conducted by us in Arunachal Pradesh cuttings at 2 × 2 m distance; g, Transplanted cuttings; h and i, Estab- showed a good result. Three distinct types of cuttings lished flowering and fruiting plants in NERIST campus.

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Harvesting and yield in the nurturing of the plants like nursery management, plantation, plant management, harvesting, grading and The flowering of the plant starts after 2 to 3 months from drying and marketing will thereby play a vital role in the cuttings raised from fertile shoots. Generally, P. lon- economy and manpower generation. gum produces flowers from August to October, after 4–5 months of planting, and fruits are ready to be harvested Conclusion 2–3 months after spike formation, which would be mostly from December to February. The fruits are preferably Medicinal plants with regular market demands always harvested just before ripening to retain the best quality. provide better livelihood options for the farmers. Howev- In mixed cropping patterns, about 66 kg/ha dried er, due to the lack of understanding of their marketing spikes can be harvested during the first year which will demand and cultivation techniques, many of the potential rise to about 166 kg/ha from the second year onwards. medicinal herbs are yet to be recognized for large scale The yield eventually decreases after the fourth year and farming. P. longum is one of the best crops that can be by the fifth year it becomes economically unfeasible, cultivated easily with minimum efforts for generation of therefore the plants need to be replanted. The stem and good revenue. Due to its shade-loving nature and warm roots can also be harvested for producing a product called humid climatic requirement, it can be introduced as one ‘pippalimula’ or ‘piplamool’. The root is traded based on of the understorey crops in different agroforestry systems their grading. Grade I comprises of thick roots and where a farmer may earn about Rs 50,000–150,000 per underground stem which are sold at a higher price as hectare as an additional income along with various other compared to Grade II and Grade III which are composed crops of silvicultural and horticultural importance. Once of thin roots, stem and broken fragments20. large scale cultivations are targeted, it may also promote self-employment opportunities for the farmers through Economy and employment generation processing and marketing of the products. Various Govt departments can take an integrated approach for promo- In mixed cropping of introducing the species in any agro- tion of the commercial cultivation of this crop involving forestry system, the farmer can earn a minimum of about the local mass, particularly in the northeastern region of Rs 50,000 per hectare as additional income per year. the country. Combining with other crops in the agroforestry farming

system, the profit may increase as per the nature of the 1. Anon., Indian medicinal plants – Fact sheet. National Medicinal intermixed crop. Unlike most other commercial crops, Plant Board, 2019; https://www.nmpb.nic.in/content/medicinal- farmers can reap the benefits right from the first year of plants-fact-sheet planting as the plant starts producing fruits within 6–7 2. Lawrence, B. M., Progress in essential oils: long pepper oil. Per- months of its planting. An estimation of the net income fum. Flavor., 2015, 40, 42–44. per hectare is as shown below. 3. Gani, H. M. O., Hoq, M. O. and Tamanna, T., Ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharmacological properties of Piper longum (Linn). Asian J. Med. Biol. Res., 2019, 5(1), 1–7. Net income from fruiting spikes (@Rs 800/kg) in an 4. Gajurel, P. R., Rethy, P., Kumar, Y. and Singh, B., Piper species agroforestry system (Piperaceae) of North-East India (Arunachal Pradesh), Bishen Total plants that can be accumulated = 2500 per hectare Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun, India, 2008, pp. 50–52. 5. Devi, J. and Das, R., Pipli cultivation: a potential income generat- ing option. J. Med. Plants Stud., 2018, 6(6), 149–151. Income in first year = Rs 52,800 6. Charaka and Drindhabala, Charaka Samhita (ed. Trikamji, V. A. [2500 × 8 spikes = 20,000 spikes (approx. 8 spikes/ Y.), Chaukambha Sanskrit Sansthan, Varanasi, 2001, p. 738. plant) = 66 kg (1 kg = 300 spikes)] 7. Susruta, Susruta Samhita – A Ayurveda Tattva Sandipika (ed. Ambikadutta, S. K.), Chaukhamba Sanskrit Sansthan, Varanasi, Income from second year to fourth year = Rs 132,800 2001, p. 879. 8. Kothari, N., Bedre, R., Dorle, K., Kolpakwar, S. and Deshmukh, [2500 × 20 spikes = 50,000 spikes (approx. 20 spikes/ S., Conceptual study of judicious use of pippali as a broadspec- plant) = 166 kg]. trum antibiotic in various chest infections. World J. Pharm. Res., 2018, 7(17), 644–650. 9. Nandkarni, K. M., Indian Materia Medica, Bombay Popular Pra- It is also estimated that through monocropping with re- kashan, India, 1989, vol. 1, pp. 965–969. ducing the spacing below 1 m × 1 m, a farmer may also 10. Abbasi, H. and Kabir, H. A., Traditional miraculous drug Piper earn a net income of Rs 100,000 to 150,000 per hectare5. longum: review. Int. J. Sci. Res. Rev., 2018, 7(11), 369–377. Large scale plantation of P. longum will play a consi- 11. Sankaracharya, N. B., Rao, L. J., Naik, J. P. and Nagalakshmi, S., derable and increasing role in fulfilling the supply gap for Characterization of chemical constituents of Indian Long Pepper. J. Food Sci. Tech., 1997, 34(1), 73–75. industrial demands. It will also provide employment 12. Sharma, R. K., Rathore, Y. K. S. and Kumar, S., Chemical exami- opportunities that can make a difference in rural areas nation of dried fruits of Pippali (P. longum). J. Med. Plants Res., with weak labour markets. The various activities required 1983, 4(4), 63–65.

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